1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a portable terminal with a Bluetooth® (hereinafter called Bluetooth) module, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for searching for Bluetooth devices in neighboring Bluetooth equipped portable terminals to enhance the speed and accuracy of the search by assigning a nickname to a Bluetooth management database in the portable terminal. Here, the nickname generally refers to a name assigned to a neighboring Bluetooth device by the portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bluetooth is a technology for providing short range wireless communications. Bluetooth technology makes it possible to wirelessly connect Bluetooth devices within a relatively short range at low cost. In Bluetooth communication, radio frequencies are used to exchange voice and data signals between Bluetooth devices within a relatively short range without the need of physical cables. For example, when a mobile communication terminal and a laptop computer are each equipped with a Bluetooth module, they can be wirelessly connected each other, i.e. without using cables. Almost all types of digital devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), desktop computers, facsimiles (FAXs), keyboards, and joysticks can utilize Bluetooth communication if they have a Bluetooth module.
A device having a Bluetooth module searches neighboring Bluetooth devices and performs a pairing process with the searched Bluetooth device so that it can wirelessly communicate with the searched Bluetooth device. The pairing process is an authentication process in which an inter-device common link key defined in the Bluetooth interface standard is created to authenticate an inter-device common link.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a connection of neighboring Bluetooth devices to a portable terminal having a Bluetooth module.
Referring to FIG. 1, a portable terminal 100 having a Bluetooth module searches for neighboring Bluetooth devices 111, 113, 115 or 117. Thereafter, the portable terminal 100 creates a Bluetooth device list 102 for the searched neighboring Bluetooth devices 111, 113, 115 and 117, and selects a Bluetooth device for connection in the created Bluetooth device list 102.
As described above, the portable terminal 100 must search for neighboring Bluetooth devices so as to connect to a neighboring Bluetooth device. The process of searching for neighboring Bluetooth devices includes a first operation of acquiring the addresses and device classes of the neighboring Bluetooth devices and a second operation of acquiring the names of the neighboring Bluetooth devices. Here, the names of the neighboring Bluetooth devices are originally set and may be changed by the neighboring Bluetooth devices user, and are different from the nicknames that the searching portable terminal would generally assign to the neighboring Bluetooth devices. The searching process is essential when a service for the neighboring Bluetooth device is connected for the first time.
The portable terminal transmits name request signals to the neighboring Bluetooth devices after acquiring the addresses of the neighboring Bluetooth devices. Thereafter, the portable terminal waits between 0.625 milliseconds and 50.9 seconds (generally 5.12 seconds) to receive responses from the neighboring Bluetooth devices. Therefore, if the first and second operations are performed every time when the neighboring Bluetooth devices are searched, the searching operation involves an excessive delay.
In a conventional method for solving the above problem, when an already-searched neighboring Bluetooth device is searched again, the name of the searched neighboring Bluetooth device is detected using the existing Bluetooth management database without performing the name search operation on the searched neighboring Bluetooth device. However, the name of the neighboring Bluetooth device may be easily changed by Bluetooth device user. Therefore, if the names of the neighboring Bluetooth devices are changed, it is impossible to accurately connect to a desired Bluetooth device. Moreover, if the names of the neighboring Bluetooth devices overlap each other, there is a difficulty to connect to a desired Bluetooth device. Therefore, a method and an apparatus for searching neighboring Bluetooth devices with improved speed and accuracy in a portable terminal having a Bluetooth module are needed.